Alvirne softball team earns 9-4 win, spot in semifinals

HUDSON – Sarah Brisk wasn’t as calm as might be expected with a nine-run lead heading into the seventh inning of Saturday’s Division I softball quarterfinal at Alvirne High School.

Alvirne’s softball coach had already seen Bedford put up multiple runs in an inning – not once, but twice this season – both times resulting in Broncos losses. So it wasn’t a shock when the Bulldogs made things interesting with two outs in the last inning, scoring four runs before pitcher Nichole Teague finally wrapped up the 12th-seeded Broncos’ 9-4 quarterfinal win over the 13th-seeded Bulldogs. ...
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HUDSON – Sarah Brisk wasn’t as calm as might be expected with a nine-run lead heading into the seventh inning of Saturday’s Division I softball quarterfinal at Alvirne High School.

Alvirne’s softball coach had already seen Bedford put up multiple runs in an inning – not once, but twice this season – both times resulting in Broncos losses. So it wasn’t a shock when the Bulldogs made things interesting with two outs in the last inning, scoring four runs before pitcher Nichole Teague finally wrapped up the 12th-seeded Broncos’ 9-4 quarterfinal win over the 13th-seeded Bulldogs.

“Bedford’s a talented team, very talented,” said Brisk, whose Broncos will square off with top-seeded Spaulding in the 7 p.m. semifinal Tuesday at Southern New Hampshire University.

“I think their record has been very deceiving. I knew going into this we had to take them seriously.

“I just asked the girls to cut down on errors. I asked ‘T’ to cut down on walks, and really just play as a team.”

Her Broncos listened.

Teague, who was cruising through four innings, finished the day with 11 strikeouts, three walks and seven hits.

She wouldn’t allow her first hit until the fifth inning, and held a shutout until that seventh-inning jam.

When the Alvirne freshman hurler finally recorded that final out of the seventh inning, it was one big exhale of stress.

“That was a lot off my shoulders,” Teague said. “It just felt good to be out there and know I had my team behind me. It was getting pretty hot out there, but I knew my teammates could make the plays.

“I let up some good hits, and that’s on me. But we closed this one out, and we’re moving on.”

Teague received plenty of run support.

Alvirne grabbed a 1-0 lead in the first, as Christina Guessford drove in Kaycee Carbone.

The Broncos added two more in the third.

Carbone led off with a single, advancing to second when Teague reached on an error. Evelyn Susko singled to left to score Carbone and moved Teague to third. Teague would come home when Guessferd reached on an error for a 3-0 lead.

The Broncos’ offense finished up with five runs in the fourth and one more in the fifth.

Three of those fourth-inning runs came on one swing of Susko’s bat with a home run to right-center to drive in Sara Siteman and Teague. Teague was on base after knocking in Carbone and Danielle Hagan with a drive of her own – a double to left-center – and the Broncos held an 8-0 advantage heading into the sixth.

Alvirne’s fifth-inning run came off the bat of Carbone, who drove in Ali Fuller with a single to left-center.

Bedford’s offense was limited to that seventh inning. The lack of early production prevented a third Bulldog rally past Alvirne this spring –something not lost on Bulldogs coach Derek Geddes.

“The difference this time is at-bats,” Geddes said. “We didn’t get our first hit until the fifth inning. We’re not going to win games with double-digit strikeouts and little hitting.

“If every inning had been like the top of the seventh, it would have been a different story. But it wasn’t.”